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The Minuteman

Friday, April 12, 2013

NEWS

-- March was a busy month at RMU, as evidenced by all the media attention generated by the university last month. You can check it out at RMU in the News.

-- Matthew Dieterich, a senior environmental science major, earned a national scholarship award from the Alpha Chi National Honor Society at its annual conference held this year in Nashville. Dieterich received one of only two Robert W. Sledge Graduate Fellowships awarded as part of a nationwide competition for his submission of an academic paper titled “Origin, Distribution and Early Exploitation of the Marcellus Shale Gas Play in New York and Pennsylvania." The paper was based on elements of his senior thesis directed by Kenneth A. LaSota, associate professor of geology and earth sciences. Dieterich’s research was among nearly 60 academic papers submitted by Alpha Chi members from around the county in February and reviewed by a panel of university faculty from several Alpha Chi institutions.

Sledge Fellowships are $3,500 cash awards and are to be used to support graduate studies. Dieterich will apply his fellowship to continue his research at the University of Pittsburgh where he has been accepted in the M.S. in Geology program to study the geochemistry of brine and sedimentary rock interactions. He gave a formal presentation of his Marcellus Shale research along with more than 200 other students from other Alpha Chi campuses from all across the county who presented papers on a variety of topics and disciplines.

-- RMU, in conjunction with TOMS, is hosting “One Day Without Shoes” in order to raise awareness of the millions of children worldwide who go shoeless every day. The idea behind One Day Without Shoes is that people going without shoes sparks curiosity, which leads to conversation, which leads to action and change. As faculty, students will take greater notice of your lack of shoes, leading to more curiosity and conversations about this global plight. Although the event is titled "One Day Without Shoes" you are not necessarily required to go the entire day without shoes. You could simply teach your classes in the comfort of your bare feet in order to raise student curiosity.This campus wide event will take place on April 16. Feel free to stop by the third floor Nicholson rotunda from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to sign a pledge as well as get a free ‘dirt cup’ get a chance to win prizes! For more information go to www.onedawithoutshoes.com or contact the RMU Campus Representative Shelbey Surgent at slsst50@mail.rmu.edu.

-- Fraternity men at RMU will don high heels for the first “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event to raise awareness of sexual assault on college campuses. The event will be held Wednesday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. beginning at the Nicholson Center and concluding at the gazebo. Upon arrival at the gazebo, the fraternity members as well as the general campus community will participate in the campus’s “Take Back the Night,” event at 8:30 p.m. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes will be sponsored by the RMU Interfraternity Council, which has partnered with the Pittsburgh Penguins to raffle off tickets to the April 20 Pens game against the Buffalo Sabres. The tickets will go to one lucky gentleman who completes the entire mile in his heels.

-- The Pennsylvania Association of Gifted Education (PAGE) will hold its 2013 annual meeting April 18-19 at RMU. This year’s theme “To The Moon! Reaching New Heights in Gifted Education”will feature several notable presenters from the higher education and gifted community. Lisa VanGemert, the “Gifted Guru” from American Mensa, will be the keynote speaker. Members from the RMU Community, including President Dell’Omo, Provost David Jamison, Vice Provost Larry Tomei, School of Education and Social Sciences Dean Mary Ann Raforth and Assistant Professor of Engineering Ben Campbell, will have a variety of speaking and presentation roles. Students from the School of Education and Social Sciences will also help staff the events.

YOU'RE INVITED

-- Today, Friday, April 15, Blessing Adeoye will be presenting his last Rooney International Visiting Scholar lecture in the International Suite of Sewall Center from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The event is hosted mutually by the School of Communications and Information Systems and the Rooney International Visiting Scholars Program. Adeoye’s semester here has been devoted to his research concerning teaching and using technology. He is particularly interested in the role of technology in the international projects involving student collaboration. There will be ample time for questions and comments after his talk. Please come to our event and bring your students, your colleagues, your friends, and your questions and concerns.

-- RMU Greek Life will present their 25th annual Airband Lip-sync & Dance Competition tonight, Friday, April 15, at 7:30 in the Sewall Arena. There is no fee to attend, but each year they ask for donations at the door to raise funds for a particular cause - this year they will be raising money to support the Kristina Quigley memorial fund to support her son. Quigley was the head coach of women's lacrosse at Seton Hill University, who lost her life in a bus crash nearly one month ago.

-- The Media Arts Department presents an open lecture by Visiting Documentary Filmmaker Robert FivesonTuesday, April 23, from 11 a.m. to noon in the TV studio of the Academic Media Center. The lecture, titled "We Are ALL Documentarians: So what does that mean?", will address how the role of being a documentarian overlaps into everyday life and our obligations to each other and society at large. Fiveson will discuss and present excerpts of his own work. This event is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served. Throughout this semester, Fiveson is has been teaching an undergraduate course in documentary production and is also collaborating with a faculty member from the Department of Science to develop a documentary project addressing sustainability.

During his more than 30-year career, Fiveson has executive-produced more than 800 productions. He served as head of production for the Air Force Department of Defense Media Center for six years, and has run various production companies. He is a grant recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts, and has received numerous other awards including more than a dozen Tellys and an award for Best Media from the National Education Association. He currently lives in Panama, where he continues to consult and develop documentary programming.

SUPPORT RMU FOOTBALL!...in its community service project in partnership with the RMU Office of Civic Engagement. The two groups will be hosting a book and toy drive to benefit Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh during the Colonials' spring game in Joe Walton Stadium on Saturday, April 20.